Rapid Recap: Avalanche 3, Sabres 2

J.T. Compher scored with 8:06 remaining in the third period to give the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night at Pepsi Center.
Compher finished with a multi-point performance after also recording an assist on Gabriel Landeskog's power-play goal with 5:36 remaining in the first period that opened the game's scoring. The Avs went 2-for-3 with the man advantage, as Martin Kaut recorded his first NHL tally midway through the second period.

Nathan MacKinnon, Vladislav Kamenev, Samuel Girard, Joonas Donskoi and Tyson Jost also had assists in the contest for Colorado.
Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz stopped 31 shots to win his fourth straight game, tying his career-long streak
Zemgus Girgenson and Curtis Lazar registered markers for Buffalo, which rallied twice from one-goal deficits but couldn't do it again for a third time.
Statistics
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Photo Gallery
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Highlights
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Notes & Quotes
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Video: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
14:24 COL (1-0) - PPG, Gabriel Landeskog buried a loose puck in front after J.T. Compher stickhandled it near the goal line.
16:21 BUF (1-1) - Zemgus Girgensons knocked in the puck in front after a centering pass from Kyle Okposo.
2nd Period
7:15 COL (2-1) - PPG, Martin Kaut scored his first career NHL goal off a rebound.
14:55 BUF (2-2) - Jake McCabe's wrist shot from the point was redirected into the cage by Curtis Lazar.
3rd Period
11:54 COL (3-2) - J.T. Compher knocked in the puck in the low slot after Joonas Donskoi fed him the puck from behind the net.
Final: Avalanche - 3 | Sabres - 2

3 STARS

Selected by Colorado Hockey Coach of the Game: J. Smith (Air Force Falcons Youth Hockey Association)

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 2 for 3
Buffalo: 0 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Pavel Francouz made his fifth straight start and had 32 saves, improving to 4-0-1 in the stretch.
Buffalo: Carter Hutton denied 31 of the 34 shots he faced.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Playing in his fourth career game, Colorado rookie Martin Kaut scored his first NHL goal to become the 12th Czech Republic-born player to tally in franchise history. Kaut, who recorded his first point with an assist on the game-winning goal in last Friday's win at the Anaheim Ducks, is the first Czech to score for the Avalanche since Jan Hejda on Feb. 12, 2015 against the New York Rangers.
Selected with the No. 16 overall pick in 2018, Kaut is the 14th player from his draft class to register a marker. He is just the sixth player drafted in 2018 to score in one of his first four NHL games. Kaut is the third Avalanche player to tally his first career goal this season, joining Cale Makar (Oct. 25 at Vegas) and Logan O'Connor (Nov. 27 vs. Edmonton).

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche has won four games in a row for the fourth time this season… Nathan MacKinnon recorded his 299th career assist, passing Paul Stastny for sole possession of ninth place in franchise history and fifth place in the Avalanche annals… J.T. Compher recorded his sixth multi-point game of the year… Tyson Jost played in his 200th NHL contest, the 10th player from the 2016 draft class to reach the mark… He scored at 2:38 of the third period, but the goal was disallowed as he played the puck with a high stick… The Avs won both games of the season series against Buffalo (2-0-0) and have won five straight versus the Sabres… Colorado improved to 18-6-4 against Eastern Conference opponents this year and 9-3-1 in the month of February, tied for the third-most win in the month in franchise history (1996)… The Avs are now 7-2-0 on Military Appreciation Nights… The club scored multiple power-play goals in a game for the first time since Jan. 2 vs. St. Louis (3-for-5).

QUOTABLE

Martin Kaut on scoring his first NHL goal: "I don't know if it's a dream or not, but I'm so happy for this moment. I think it was my dream to score my first NHL goal, and I got it and I'm so happy."
BIG HIGHLIGHT
Fist pumps and a shower

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Coat game, 100!

ROSTER REPORT

Vladislav Namestnikov made his Avalanche debut after being acquired on Monday. He began the game on a line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Martin Kaut… Pavel Francouz played in his sixth straight game, a career high, and started for the fifth consecutive contest, also a personal best in the NHL… Michael Hutchinson, who the Avs traded for on Monday, was the backup goaltender… Mark Barberio was the team's lone healthy scratch.

INJURY UPDATE

Matt Nieto entered the day doubtful to play due to an upper-body injury but suited up for his 62nd game of the season; he has yet to miss a contest this year… Andre Burakovsky missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury… Matt Calvert (lower body), Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Nazem Kadri (lower body) and Mikko Rantanen (upper body) are all making progress with their various injuries and all are expected to be back in the lineup by mid-March… Colin Wilson continues his off-ice training and rehab after having two surgeries earlier this season due to a lower-body injury.

UP NEXT

The Avs head out for a three-game road trip that begins Friday at the Carolina Hurricanes. It's the first half of the team's 11th back-to-back set of the season, which concludes on Saturday at the Nashville Predators. The Avalanche wraps up the trek on Monday at the Detroit Red Wings.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
90 Vladislav Namestnikov - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 61 Martin Kaut
83 Matt Nieto - 81 Vladislav Kamenev - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 16 Nikita Zadorov
Goaltenders
39 Pavel Francouz
35 Michael Hutchinson